Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

CBT has proven helpful for a wide range of struggles — addiction, binge eating, problem gambling, and more — and remains a standard, structured therapy for addressing addictive patterns on an individual basis.

CBT rests on the idea that thoughts, actions, and feelings are all interconnected. A key focus is what's called "automatic thoughts" — the distorted, reflexive thinking that can drive problem behaviour (for example, "I need to get high to feel okay"). These thoughts tend to surface instantly, without conscious reasoning. CBT works to replace them with healthier alternatives, while building behavioural habits that interrupt the pattern before it takes hold.

The therapy aims to correct faulty thinking patterns, challenge the dysfunctional beliefs behind maladaptive behaviour and emotion, and give clients real tools and experience for building more adaptive ways of thinking.

Mindfulness is one of CBT's core tools — the practice of accepting, observing, and staying present without judgement. Rather than pushing unwanted thoughts or feelings away, mindfulness teaches clients to experience them fully, with stillness and awareness, however uncomfortable that might be. Paired with behavioural strategies that interrupt automatic patterns, mindfulness helps clients build a more deliberate, balanced way of living.

Components of the Cognitive Behavioural Model

Situation

Anything that happens to a person — a person, place, thing, or emotion that might trigger a reaction. Situations themselves sit outside our control, but our behaviours and personal factors (psychological wellbeing, personality, genetics, environment) shape how we respond to them.

• How might our personality influence the situations we find ourselves in?
• How might our genetics, family, and biological background shape our experiences?
• How does our social, cultural, and physical environment play a role?

Emotions

How a person feels about a situation. Emotions aren't always logical — they're shaped by thoughts and beliefs, and can be especially hard to identify for someone who has spent years denying, ignoring, or suppressing them.

Happy	Concerned	Loving	Scared	Rejected	Relief	Guilt	Anticipation	Pride
Longing	Anxious	Excited	Overwhelmed	Frustrated	Remorse	Irritable	Disgust	Rage

Thoughts & Beliefs

What a person thinks or feels about a situation, and how they interpret it. Thoughts are simply electro-chemical impulses in the brain — they are not statements of fact.

As Epictetus put it nearly two thousand years ago, people are disturbed not by events themselves but by the view they take of them. CBT builds on that idea: it isn't the event that causes the emotional (and behavioural) reaction, but the meaning we attach to it.

Certain kinds of thoughts tend to trigger particular emotions and behaviours:

• Automatic thoughts are the first thing that pops into mind — a word, image, memory, or physical sensation.
• We tend to accept these thoughts without question, even though they aren't always true, accurate, or helpful.
• Our thoughts are shaped by our own past and present experience, knowledge, values, and culture — so anything inconsistent with those can feel distressing.
• Thoughts can become habitual and persistent; the more they repeat, the more believable they seem, often triggering a whole chain of unrelated, worsening thoughts.

How can CBT help challenge negative thoughts?

• Mindfulness
• Asking whether a thought is true, helpful, important, necessary, or kind
• Positive self-statements
• Practising gratitude by visualising the best parts of your day

Behaviour / Response

A person's actions in response to their thoughts and feelings about a situation. In the context of mood, anxiety, and substance-use disorders, behaviours are often used to dampen negative emotions — since nobody enjoys guilt, shame, anger, or pain, it's natural to look for relief. That relief can take the form of substance use, gambling, or other coping behaviours, including oversleeping, avoidance, or withdrawing from loved ones. These reactions tend to offer only short-term relief without addressing the underlying cause — and helping clients build healthier, longer-term responses is one of the central goals of CBT.

Substance use	Gambling	Avoidance	Over-medicating	Technology overuse	Arguing	Shopping
Over/under sleeping	Over/under eating	Crying	Talking too fast	Reassurance seeking	Pretending	Over/under doing

Thought Records

Thought records are another core CBT skill, built on the idea that you don't have to believe every thought you have. Many thoughts are habit-driven and rooted in distorted perspectives, yet we tend to take them at face value. A thought record is a way of testing your own thinking — helping shift your mood by finding a more balanced perspective. Through identifying, testing, and reflecting on your thoughts, you start to understand where they come from. The exercise turns your attention inward, toward thoughts and feelings we're often disconnected from — and that shift in awareness is often the first step toward real psychological insight.